Fast Food, Italian Style

On the way back from Milan I ended up at the airport around lunch time and so decided to grab some fast food before the flight.

Usually airports are peppered with the standard mixture of fast food joints often with pride of place given over to McDonald's -- this is certainly the case in Frankfurt. In Milan though things are a little different.

There are quite a few fast food outlets at Milan airport but they tend to focus on fresh sandwiches or pizza. No surprise then that I went for pizza.

The pizza was fantastic (better than Probably the Best Pizza in Milan) and the stall was quite cool too. Unfortunately my camera was packed so all I had was the VGA quality camera (although calling it a camera is stretching the definition a little far) on my mobile phone. Anyway you get the idea -- it looks like any other fast food counter with pictures of the meal variations but unlike most other fast food restaurants serves fantastic food. I know where I'm eating if I'm ever in Milan airport again!

Duomo

This afternoon I had a break from working and went into the centre of Milan to visit the Duomo (and to eat ice cream!).

Having read my guide book I already knew that the Duomo is the world's third largest church, behind St. Peter's and Seville Cathedral, but having never visited either of these larger churches I had no idea quite how big the Duomo would be. It is HUGE!

From the outside it is very big, but you get a real sense of just how big when you enter it's cavernous interior. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside but they wouldn't have conveyed the sheer size of the place anyway.

Although I'm not a religious person I do quite enjoy walking around churches and cathedrals, partly due to the sense of calm and tranquillity the hushed atmosphere tends to instil in me but also as they tend to be very interesting buildings and the Duomo was no exception. Of course, the fact that churches tend to be quite cool also meant that it offered a most pleasant rest from the 38C conditions outside!

Probably The Best Pizza In Milan

I had pizza for dinner last night (my first real Italian pizza) so I don't know if the restaurants boast of making probably the best pizza in Milan is accurate or not but it was very nice. The picture is actually the back of the restaurants card. I couldn't be bothered trying to photograph the front as well (I don't carry a scanner with me on foreign trips) but the restaurant was called Sabatini and you can find out more at their website.

Coffee in Breakfast

Whilst I like a proper full English for breakfast I'm also quite happy with a continental breakfast as long as it is accompanied by copious amounts of strong black coffee.

This morning though I got coffee both with and in my breakfast! The drink was better than the food but as yet another source of caffeine I can't complain.

The Last Supper

How could I not know that Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper was in Milan? I knew it was painted on a refectory wall and that it isn't a true fresco (it wasn't painted onto wet plaster) but if I'd been asked where it was I would probably have said Rome.

At this point you might well be asking yourself why my ignorance is at all important or relevant. Well I'll tell you why -- I'm going to be in Milan next week attending a project meeting. I only found out where the Last Supper was when flicking through the guidebook I bought on Thursday evening. I would have liked to have gone and seen such a well known work of art but unfortunately you have to book tickets weeks if not months in advance (the next date you can get a ticket for is the 7th of July).

Due to a change in the agenda for the meeting I have actually ended up with almost a full day in Milan without any work to do so will try and see some of the other main sites including the Duomo. If you have been to Milan before and have suggestions for things I should definitely make the time to see then leave me a comment.